Voxtra

This ambitious project brings together the most incredible vocal traditions. This amalgamation – not exactly a fusion, since each tradition is still perfectly recognisable – showcases Albanian iso-polyphony with its plangent quality, the cantu a tenore of the Sardinian countryside, Beko blues singing of southern Madagascar, Finnish yoik and rune singing and the Belgian récit chanté.

Voxtra is about the exploration of common ground between different traditions: a particular rhyme, similar harmonies, a melody that reminisces another one… The Sardinian tenore don’t yoddle like a Malgash, but rather they create a vocal tapestry that supports Talike’s singing. Anu doesn’t sing in Albanian with the Gjini-ensemble but the songs of her youth in Finland resound as an echo of the Albanian polyphony. Voxtra allows the traditions to engage in a dialogue with each other, the similarities come to the surface, but the emphasis lies on the uniqueness of each tradition.

From their village at the foot of Montalbo moutain, in the North-East of Sardinia, those singers emigrated in Belgian Limburg. The name of their band, Monte Arvu, comes from their common roots in the mountains. Monte Arvu is the heir of the polyphonic a cappella tradition fron Sardinia. The singers witness the love for their native land: in Monte Arvu, the nostalgic scope is ubiquitous. Their repertoire not only includes the shepherds’ polyphony, the “Canto a tenore”, but also “the singing with guitar” and the traditional folk songs from Sardinia.

Talike Gelle

Talike Gellé is a songwriter, singer ,storyteller and percussionist. At the age of 13, inspired by the Sairys (Antadroy griots) she formed her first band in her native village Ifotake. In 1985, she constituted a band with her brothers and sisters, and won the 1st price for a competition in Fort Dauphin. In 1995, in Belgium, she created her first feminine a cappella vocal trio, Ny Ajaja. Two years later, this polyphonical a cappella trio was reformed and called Tiharea. With Kilema, she created the duo Talilema thanks to which they won the third place at Sharq Taronalari international contest, in Samarkand (Ouzbekistan). She was also part of Blindnote, multicultural band, whose album was rewarded with a Musical Octave in 2011.

Anu Junnonen

Coming from a family of musicians, Anu was able to sing before she began to talk, according to her mother. She learned to play the piano and the flute, and began to love jazz music by playing saxophone. After College, she landed in Belgium where she discovered David Lunx’s voice, and followed classes with David, Diederick Wissels, Kris Defoort, Jeroen Van Herzeele and others at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles. She got her diploma in 2004 as well as her teaching aggregation. She also followed classes and master classes with Deborah Brown, Mark Murphy, Bobby Mc Ferrin, Fay Claassen and Lydia Van Dam, and taught Finnish traditional singing.

Famille Gjini

Gramoz, Ylber & Brihans Gjini belong to a talented family of Albanian descent. Gramoz, the father, was part of Tirana Ensemble, including six male singers and one female soloist coming from different Albanian regions, whose intention was to honor the rich and unknown Albanian polyphonic repertoire. The songs waver between elegies, historical and epical pieces and tackle themes like love, seduction, migration, loss and death. The leader indicates a melodic basis over which the chorus creates a sweet but strong emotional response. Ylber, the uncle, is a lyrical singer whose bass song conquered the opera’s world. Due to Ylber’s powerful voice, the Albanian trio finds a stability that emphasizes the beauty of the ensemble. Brihans, the son, is a naturally talented singer who knows the traditional repertoire very well via his father ; and he also sings many other styles.

Raphael De Cock

Raphael De Cock is a multi-instrumentalist, singer in various traditional styles, and is part of Belgian and internationals musical projects. With Remi Decker he co-founded Griff, a band in which he plays numerous bagpipes and flutes. In 2009 he formed the duo Nadisuna with Vladiswar Nadishana. He sings and plays the gaita (Galician bagpipe) in the ensembles Neboa and A Contrabanda. With the trio Osuna (Emre Gültekin and Thomas Baeté), he plays the Siberian zither (chatkhan) and does throat singing. He joins in with the Irish-Scandinavian project Northern Lights and organizes multi-ethnical workshops with Waira in schools. Actually, he was invited by Graindelavoix to join the Belgian-Italian vocal project Muntagna Nera, and Melancholia.